Alphine Majesty

Roberto Abbado conducts Strauss' "Alpine Symphony." The richly hued program will also include Mozart's overtly passionate Piano Concerto No. 24, performed by Lars Vogt on piano, hailed as "the most perceptive of Mozarteans."

Cincinnati's premiere classical music performance hall. Home to Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, where celebrities galore regularly pop into town to perform everything from Broadway showtunes to modern ear worms. Led by a rotation of well-respected conductors (www.cincinnatipops.org). Also home to Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which has received recognition via international tours (www.cincinnatisymphony.org), Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, which features area students in grades 9-12 (cincinnatisymphony.org/Content.php?id=23), Cincinnati BoyChoir, which tours the world and performs concerts through the holiday season (www.cincyboychoir.org), Cincinnati May Festival, the oldest choral festival in the Western Hemisphere (German immigrants started it here in 1872)which presents two weeks of glorious singing each May (www.mayfestival.com) and Cincinnati Opera, the nation’s second-oldest opera company which stages four productions every summer with national and international opera stars (www.cincinnatiopera.com).

If you're an oyster lover, this event will sweep you off your feet. Washington Platform's Annual Oyster Festival returns with more than 40 items and oyster combinations, including fried oyster taco ...